Among causes for fatal home accidents, fires and burns are the third leading cause according to a recent study. The United State's mortality rate from fires ranks eighth among the developed countries for which statistics are available. On average in the United States in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes. About 85% of all U.S. fire deaths in 2009 occurred in homes. In 2009, fire departments responded to 377,000 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,565 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 13,050, not including firefighters. Although the number of fatalities and injuries caused by residential fires has declined gradually over the past several decades, many residential fire-related deaths remain preventable and continue to pose a significant public health problem. Most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases and not from burns.
Recognition of the risks and dangers associated with domestic fires has led to investigation of fire warning systems or fire suppression systems that can be incorporated into the architecture of a typical home. One method of residential fire suppression is to install fixed piping and dispersal nozzles throughout a structure. However, material and labor costs to install such a system in a new structure are prohibitive, and installation of such a system in an existing structure often includes additional labor and added cost making such a method financially impractical to most home owners. A second method of residential fire suppression is to install a suitable number of self-contained modular fire suppression units throughout a structure. However, prior examples of this method fail to include considerations for a practical method of servicing and or replacing essential components including tank, valve, dispersal nozzle, and perhaps most importantly the stored fire retardant. Additionally prior examples of self-contained remotely actuated modular fire suppression units often require connections to external devices and also fail to include considerations for a practical method of servicing and or replacing essential components including the tank, valve, dispersal nozzle, and the stored fire retardant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,657 to LeLande, Jr. (1991), U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,113 to Pierce (1995), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,478 to Weber (2005) show residential fire suppression systems. Each include a source unit connected via plumbing or piping to dispersal nozzles located throughout a structure. Installation of such a system in either a new or existing structure is labor intensive and financially impractical due to the material and labor costs incurred installing the required plumbing or piping throughout a structure in addition to the installation of any pumps, tanks, and/or sensors. Retrofitting or installing such a system in an existing structure often requires additional material and labor resulting in higher costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,541 to Golden (1998) shows an embodiment of self-contained fire suppression device. This design does not adequately address the issues of installing and performing the required service for such a device, stating only that the pressure vessel may be permanently mounted to or hung above the mounting surface. This device may not be easily accessible as described and could be an impractical embodiment of a safety device.
Both U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,544 to Love and Webber (1999) and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0131035 to French (2006) show self-contained remotely operated fire suppression systems. Both methods utilize a pressure vessel releasing fire retardant to suppress a localized fire. However, both methods require connections to external sensors or triggering device. These devices serve as containment and dispersal units within a fire suppression system. They are not autonomous self-actuated units.
It appears that the prior art lacks a compact, self-contained, easily mountable and releasable fire detection and suppression unit that is cost effective and suitable for easy home installation.